Today, Somnisday 12 Ikolstyme, will be celebrated as Flag Day in the Imperial Republic of Shireroth.
I've made no secret that the flag is not my favorite thing in the world. But the new version is better, and better still is what it stands for. The past few months of flag changes have been a traumatic experience for the country, but it's an experience we've learned from and one which ended up showing what was best about Shireroth.
Despite all the fear and anger, somehow most people came out of this happy. The supporters of the old flag have their flag back. The supporters of the new flag have mostly been placated with concessions and compromises. Everyone who ragequit or threatened to do so found the courage to come back and fight for their convictions. And the flag itself is at least a little bit nicer than when the whole affair started (thanks, Shyriath).
Best of all, both the pro- and anti- flag movements were conducted by grassroots campaigns using the Landsraad and the court of popular opinion. It was this participatory politics that legitimized the result and let the issue be settled without the nation exploding. Those of you who have been following my government reform proposals know I'm trying to expand the opportunities for such politics, but I'd say we've done pretty well for ourselves without the full legal framework. Special praise goes to Kaiser Leto III, who after trying to decree his favorite flag had a change of heart and decided to respect the normal procedures, and to Kaiser Mors VI, who despite his strong feelings on the matter refused to rule by decree. Their ability to resist the temptations of power allowed the Shirerithian people to settle the matter on their own, and turned the whole issue into an impressive victory for benevolent absolutism.
This issue has been one of the greatest tests our political system has faced, and we have come out the other side with every reason to be confident, and at least a few reasons to be proud of ourselves. So I proclaim the following:
1. That today will be celebrated as Flag Day.
2. That the Golden Mango Throne recognizes the flag passed by the Landsraad as the true flag of Shireroth.
3. That the other flag, the red-black-and-blue flag, takes the old flag's place as Imperial Standard.
4. That in order to prevent an endless cycle, there will be no further flag change proposals for the space of at least one year, under threat of Kaiserial auto-veto.
